I thought it was necessary to post an unbiased “greatest moments” entry after seeing ESPN.com an attempt at doing the same (their list can be found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=games/decade/2009syracuseunconn). Their list unfortunately does not rank the games in order of their greatness and only lists 25 games/events. On the other hand, I have produced an my objectively-reasoned ranking of top 50 greatest sports moments of the 200os. It is slightly different than the ESPN one in that it looks at specific moments as opposed to the games as a whole. However, since most great sports moments come out of great games, the content will be similar. I made a pretty legendary ranking of the greatest moments in sports from 1980-2000, so hopefully this list will be just as good.
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1 |
Boise State beats Oklahoma in overtime of the Fiesta Bowl (2007) |
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2 |
New England Patriots upset the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI (2002) |
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3 |
Kansas beats Memphis in NCAA Title Game with Mario Chalmers buzzer beater. (2008) |
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4 |
Tiger Woods beats Rocco Mediate in 19 hole-playoff of U.S. Open (2008) |
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5 |
Boston Red Sox end Curse of Bambino with wins over Yankees and Cardinals (2004) |
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6 |
Michael Phelps wins 400m Butterfly Olympic Gold by .001 seconds (2008) |
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7 |
Lebron James goes off against Pistons in Game 6 of Eastern conference finals (2007) |
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8 |
George Mason upsets Connecticut in Elite 8 of NCAA Tournament (2006) |
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9 |
Goran Ivanisevic beats Patrick Rafter in five-set Wimbledon Final (2001) |
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10 |
New York Giants stun undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII (2008) |
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11 |
Ohio State shocks Miami in 2OT in BCS Title Game (2003) |
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12 |
Pittsburgh outlasts Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII (2009) |
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13 |
Roger Federer beats Andy Roddick in Wimbledon final (2009) |
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14 |
Vince Young leads Texas over Southern Cal in BCS Title Game (2006) |
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15 |
Phil Michelson sinks putt on 18 at the Master’s to win first major title (2004) |
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16 |
Patriots hit another game-winning field goal to beat Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004) |
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17 |
Rulan Gardner wins Olympic Gold Medal in Greco-Roman wrestling (2000) |
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18 |
15-seeded Hampton beats Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tourney (2001) |
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19 |
Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer in five-set Wimbledon final (2008) |
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20 |
Tiger Woods hits bunker shot on 16th hole of Master’s en route to win over DiMarco (2005) |
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21 |
Stanford pulls off biggest upset in college football history over Southern Cal (2007) |
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22 |
Luis Gonzalez hits Game 7 single to lift Arizona Diamondbacks to world series title (2001) |
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23 |
Curlin spoils Street Sense’s triple crown bid with photo finish victory at Preakness (2007) |
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24 |
U.S. comes from behind to win 4 x 100 freestyle swimming gold medal in Beijing (2008) |
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25 |
Italy beats France in penalty kicks to win World Cup after Zidane’s head butt (2006) |
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26 |
Pittsburgh Penguins upset Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of Stanley Cup Finals (2009) |
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27 |
Floyd Mayweather Jr. wins split decision over Oscar De La Hoya (2007) |
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28 |
59 year-old Tom Watson comes in second at the British Open (2009) |
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29 |
Patriots beat Raiders in divisional playoff game because of controversial Tuck Rule (2002) |
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30 |
Aaron Boone his Game 7 HR to lift Yankees over rival Red Sox ALCS (2003) |
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31 |
Syracuse blocks Kansas’ buzzer beater to win NCAA basketball championship (2003) |
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32 |
Texas Tech upsets Texas with game-winning catch by Michael Crabtree (2008) |
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33 |
Tiger Woods beats Bob May in playoff in the PGA championship at Valhalla (2000) |
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34 |
Chris Moneymaker shocks the world and wins World Series of Poker Main Event (2003) |
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35 |
Western Kentucky upsets Drake in first round of tourney with overtime buzzer beater (2008) |
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36 |
LA Lakers beat Spurs in Game 5 of Conference Semis with Derek Fisher’s “0.4 shot” (2004) |
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37 |
Jennifer Capriati finally wins a Grand Slam title with win over Hingis at the Aussie Open (2001) |
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38 |
Philadelphia Phillies end William Penn curse by beating Devil Rays in World Series (2008) |
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39 |
United States soccer shocks Spain in Confederations Cup Semifinal (2008) |
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40 |
Maryland upsets Duke in overtime of Women’s National Title Game (2006) |
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41 |
Appalachian State stuns Michigan in college football season opener (2007) |
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42 |
Syracuse beats Connecticut in 6 overtimes in Big East championship game (2009) |
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43 |
* Barry Bonds breaks single-season home run record (2003) |
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44 |
Greg Norman come up just short in an improbable run at the British Open title (2008) |
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45 |
Mine That Bird pulls off greatest Kentucky Derby upset ever (2009) |
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46 |
Carolina Panthers beat the Rams in double overtime of divisional playoff game (2004) |
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47 |
Thierry Henry’s controversial handball goal propels France into world cup (2009) |
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48 |
Andy Murray beats Wawrinka in five-sets in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon (2009) |
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49 |
Louisville upsets Japan for Little League World Series Title (2002) |
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50 |
Usain Bolt destroys the field in Men’s Olympic 100m final (2008) |
Ramblings of the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist 